Thread feeding mechanism for warp knitting machines



' Sept. 17, 1935. E. KINSELLA EIAL 2,014,530

THREAD FEEDING MECHANISM FOR WARP KNITTING MACHINES Fl G l Filed 001;. 26, 1932 E D W/LQV KIA/SELL serene THREAD FEEDING MEEHANHSM lFfiilFt WARIR.

I T'EHNG MACHHNIES Edward manna, .llohn Gordon Pratt, amanernard lifielsall, Spondon, near Derby, England,

assignors to Celanese @orporation of a corporat on of Delaware America,

Application ilctoher as, new, has No. 639,639 in Great Britain November 3, 119311 sprains, (or. can

This invention relates to mechanisms for icedingthreads in textile machines, and is particularly concerned with the warp feeding means used in connection with warp knitting machines- It is an object of the invention to provide improved means for feeding warp threads to the needles in knitting machines oi this kind and especially means capable of feeding the threads at a high rate. v

According to the present invention a warp knitting machine comprises a source of supply of threads'such as a beam; creel, or plurality of sectional beams, a series of needles adapted to per- I form knitting cycles and in the course of said cycles to draw'thread intermittently from the supply, and a bar or other means which is positively actuated to draw thread from the supply in synchronism, but out of phase, with the threaddrawing movement of the knitting cycles and to release it in phase with such thread-drawing movement, for consumption by the needles. The

' beamsor bobbins from, which the threads are drawn are braked in order that threads may be tensioned, and the drawing of the threads therefrom is effected partlyby the motion of the.

needles themselves, and partly by the motion of the thread-drawing means (hereafter referred to ably so timed and of such magnitude that by the combined action of the needles and the, bar, the

threads are drawn away from the supply a a substantially constant rate.

The thread-drawing bar in advancing acts to deflect the threads as they pass from the supply to the guides, an increase in the deflection serving to pull the threads from the supply. At the same time, the needles are enabled to pull thread from the supply in their turn; Thus, when the needles move down to knit, a demand for threads is created which is satisfied partly by the threaddrawing action of the needles themselves, and partly by a thread-releasing motion oi the positively actuated thread-drawing bar as it is retracted. Before the next thread-drawing motion of the needles, the thread-drawing bar is once more advanced in order to draw a further 1 as a bar), the motion of the bar being preferway limitative.

'tension of the warps can be adjusted by the use occupied by a period in which the bar is drawing thread from the supply.

The device according to the invention is applicable to warp knitting machines generally, and is particularly advantageous in connection with 5 the high speed warp knitting machine described in U. S. application Serial No. 639,633 filed Oct. 26, 1932 corresponding to British application No; 30500/31, filed November 3, 1931. The invention may be used in connection with any convenient P source of supply of warp threads, for example beams or sectional beams to which a braking effort is applied inorder to tension the thread in the desired manner, it being preferable that the braking effort may be adjustable in accordance with the varying diameter of the beam. Similarly, when the sup ly comes from a creel of bobbins, each bobbi may be separately braked. If, as'is often the case in warp knitting machines, the threads are supplied to the needles in two warp sheets, two thread-drawing bars are provided, one for each sheet, and positively driven by pairs of earns arranged side by side at the ends of the machine.

The invention will now be'described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying draw ing, but it is to be understood that this description is given by Way of example only, and is in no In the drawing:

' Fig. l is a sectional view of one end of the machine;

Fig. 2 is a part plan taken on the line 22 of Fig.1; and r Fig. 3 shows a detail of themechanism;

The two sets of warps i, ii are supplied with beams l carried on brackets amounted on the upper side of the machine frame 9. Each warp beam is provided with a brake drum it so that 40 of suitable weights it carried by brake'bands i2 passing round the brake drums.

Each sheet of warps passes over its own drawing bar id, id before travelling substantially. vertically downwards to the thread guides it. The bars 63, M, which are preferably tubular so as to be of minimum weight consistent with rigidity, are carried by levers it suspended from the brackets ii and connected by links it to camfollower leversv it pivoted at it on the frame ll. Eachlever it carries a camfollower Ell to follow its cam 2 l. The two earns 26 are secured to a shaft 22 on which is mounted a chain wheel 23 geared by a chain a l to a sprocket it on the main camshaft it of the machinei The cams ii are so poi sitioned with respect to the cam-shaft 26 that the bars l3, II are advanced so as to deflect the warps 4, 5 after the needles 2! have completed their thread-drawing movement andwhile the last rpw of knitted loops is being drawn from the needles by the pull of the take-up device 28. This deflection causes thread to be drawn from the beams 6, 'Isubstantially continuously, while on the retraction of the bars I3, M a supply of thread is available to be wrapped round the needles 21 on their next knitting movement. In this way, the thread can be drawn from the beams 6, 1 at a substantially constant rate, and-the mechanism is relieved from the strain imposed when the relatively heavy beams have to be rotated intermittently.

It is convenient to have the cams 2| effect two thread-drawing movements for each revolution while the main cam-shaft 26 carries out one knitting movement for each revolution. The cams 2| are therefore made with two lifts, and a 2:1

reduction gear drives the auxiliary cam-shaft 22 from the main shaft 26. Each lift of each cam is, of course, suitably profiled in accordance with the exactrequirements of the particular lapping to be effected at the needles at the time it is in operation.

As is clear from the drawing, the weight of the bars l3, l4 and the associated links and levers acts in conjunction with the tension in the warps 4, 5 to'press the followers 20 firmly against the cams 2| so that the thread-drawing and releasing movements of the bars |3-, I are accurately controlled. 4

It will be understood that both ends of the bars l3, M are driven by similar pairs of cams 2| acting in synchronism and similarly driven from the cam-shaft 26.

What we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

'1. A warp knitting machine comprising a source of supply of warp threads, a series of needles for performing knitting cycles and adapted, iri the course'of such cycles, to draw thread intermittently from said supply, means for actuating said needles in said knitting cycles, threaddrawing means adapted to draw thread from the supply, and means for actuating said threaddrawing means in synchronism with said needles to draw thread from the supply out of phase with the thread-drawing movements of the nee-' dles, and to release it in phase with such threaddrawing movements to satisfy in part the threaddrawing action of the needles.

2. A warp knitting machine comprising a source of supply of warp threads, a series of needles for performing knitting cycles and adapted, in the course of such cycles, to draw threads intermittently from said supply, means for actuating said needles in said knitting cycles, thread-- drawing means adapted to draw thread from the supply, and means for actuating said threaddrawing means in synchronism with said needles to draw thread from the supply out of phase with the thread-drawing movements of the needles, and to release it in phase with such threaddrawing movements to satisfy in part the threaddrawing action of the needles, the rate of drawing and releasing of thread by said thread-draw-* ing means being such as to render substantially constant the rate at which thread is drawn from the supply by the combined action of the needles and the thread-drawing means.

3. A warp knitting machine comprising a source of supply of warp threads, a series of needles for performing knitting cycles and adapted, in the course of such cycles, to draw thread intermittently from said supply, means for actuating said needles in said knitting cycles, a. thread-drawing bar adapted to draw thread from the supply, and means for actuating said bar in synchronism with said needles to draw thread from the supply out of phase with the threaddrawing movements of the needles, and to release it in phase with such thread-drawing movements to satisfy in part the thread-drawing action of the needles.

of supply of warp threads, a series of needles for performing knitting cycles and adapted, in the course of such cycles, to draw thread intermittently from said supply, means for actuating said needles in said knitting cycles, a thread-drawing bar adapted to draw thread from the supply, and means for actuating said bar in synchronism with said needles to draw thread from the supply out of phase with-the thread-drawing movements of the needles and to release it in phase with such threadedrawing movements to satisfy in part the thread-drawing action of the needles, the rate of drawing and releasing of thread by said bar being such as to render substantially constant the rate at which thread is drawn from the supply bythe combined action of the needles and the bar.

5. A warp knitting machine comprising a source of supply of warp threads, a series of needles for performing knitting cycles and adapted, in the course of such'cycles, to draw thread intermittently from said supply, cam means adapted to actuate said needles to perform said. cycles, a thread-drawing bar over which the threads pass in proceeding from the supply to the needles, and cam means rotating synchronously with said knitting cam means and kept in driving connection with said bar by the weight of the bar and the tension in the threads, said cam means being adapted to advance and retract said bar, to cause EDWARD KINSELLA. JOHN GORDON PRATT. BERNARD KELSALL. 

